Art Institute of Chicago

The Bathers

Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906)

Date

1899-1904

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

France

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Paul Cezanne set this idyllic view of a group of bathers in a frame of foliage. He rendered the ground, water, trees, and sky with patches of hatching that seem to register the energy he felt when painting. His primary concern, however, seems to have been striking a balance between the vigor of the bodies and the restfulness of the setting through individual poses and figure groupings—some invented, some likely derived from his other works depicting this subject. Over the course of his career, Cezanne frequently revisited groups of bathers in nature. Through his multiple studies of the subject, he reconceived the classical motif of nudes outdoors in a modern style.

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